FTA opposes idea of banning lorries from parts of London

The Freight Transport Association has welcomed publication of Transport for London’s Road Safety Action Plan for London. However, it rejected some of the proposals for banning lorries from parts of the city.

The plan, which was launched at the Waterloo IMAX roundabout, hopes to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries on London’s roads by 40 per cent, or 10,000, by 2020.

“I want London to be the most liveable Capital city in the world and improving the safety of our roads is key to achieving this, said Boris Johnson, Mayor of London.

“We’ve made good progress in recent years, but we must do more. London’s population is rapidly increasing and the extra demand that this will place on our road network poses a significant challenge.”

TfL has identified 56 key measures, to be included in the new project, which it says will help improve road safety for all. They include; making data on collisions in London available online for the first time, focusing police enforcement to specific times and places, and carrying out trials of innovative cycling measures.

The FTA has however voiced concerns about the appropriateness of some of the actions proposed, such as that of banning larger lorries from parts of the city, or at certain times of the day and the idea of increasing the number of 20mph zones within the capital.

“Restricting the size of lorries will ultimately lead to more vehicles on London’s roads – it would take 13 vans to carry the same amount of goods as a 26 tonne lorry, said Natalie Chapman, the FTA’s head of policy for London.

“The safety and environmental implications of putting more vehicles on London’s roads do not seem to have been considered.

“Efforts should be focused on specific problems; blanket measures that would add to the cost of doing business in London should be avoided.”